10.03.2014 - One More Week

You might wax on longer, but I’m not complaining! I love every word. Wasn’t conference great? That is cool to think that we were all watching it together! I didn’t hear the MTC choir except for about 20 seconds, but I want to hear it! I can do that soon. I’m definitely in for singing. As long as we all do it together. :) 

09.29.2014 - Fall Doesn't Fall Here

I’m used to calling you that so I’ll just stick with it. :) But you’re right, I’m sure I won’t be used to anyone calling me by Michelle…that’ll seem so foreign! It’s weird even just typing it haha. My week has been good for the most part! Lots of meetings and a sick day so not too much proselyting, but still good things happened! 

09.22.2014 - Autumn Equinox

Fall…we don’t really have that here haha I kind of miss that. Definitely survived the rain here…loved it actually. :) I don’t think that’s a sign that you need to be released…I think it’s a sign you need the calling longer! :) I like those four things that she mentioned in her talk. They are definitely true. 

09.15.2014 - The Best

I appreciated your long e-mail this week. :) So thank you for writing on Sunday night instead of this morning! Haha I loved how you referred to that first paragraph as your trunky mom talk. You’re the best. It’s crazy to think that it’s only a month away. Please tell me where the time has gone?! Because I can’t seem to figure it out.  

09.08.2014 - Sweet Sixteen

I’m sorry to hear that all of you were sick on your super nice vacation…but at least you are feeling better now. :) You talk about your wonderful weather of the high seventies…today and last night we had a HUGE thunder storm and it has been raining like crazy. And it was 75 degrees and cold! Funny how you adjust. 

09.01.2014 - Staying in the Ward

It sounds like you've been having a fun week! Lots of camping...haha I feel like that's all you have been doing this summer, but I can't say that I blame you!  :) You can tell Bishop that I'm doing good! Transfer calls came this morning and I am STAYING IN THE WARD!!!!! My whole mission, :) 

08.25.2014 - Short but Sweet

I’ve been telling you this whole time that e-mailing on Sunday would be a good idea, but I’m glad that you finally decided to do it. :) My week has been good! We are still running our air conditioner too! ;) 

08.18.2014 - Back to an Empty Nest

Yeah we went over to the Knudson’s house because we are teaching Lenox’s (the daughter) friend and we were working with her on that. They are a great family. I’m so proud of you for writing on Sunday afternoon. It was a very quality e-mail as well. I love Ruby Beach!! Was it beautiful?? I don’t think I’ve ever been to Spirit Lake or to the Ape Caves, but I’ve always wanted too. 

08.11.2014 - Summertime and the living is ... hot? sweaty? amazing?

I can’t believe that it is already August 11^th either! Crazy! My brain just can’t comprehend where all of the time goes. I’m glad to hear that only almost everyone was drinking wine. :)

08.04.2014 - Celebrating Kathryn's BD

This week has been really good! This past week actually hasn’t been that hot! Well, at least this weekend wasn’t. I actually wore a long-sleeve shirt on Friday (the sleeves were rolled up so I guess it was ¾) and I was fine. But it was probable still in the 90s…it’s funny how your body just adjusts to where you live. Kathryn’s dinner celebration sounded like it was delicious! Save some raspberry jam for me! I bought raspberries last week and thought of you every time I ate them. :)

07.21.2014 - Celebrate Today

I’m seriously considering not e-mailing you…but I just can’t do that! (apparently mom's email wasn't in her in box but she really, really did send one this week and she finally got it as she was finishing her email....maybe its the work police monitoring mom's non work related emails).  I have to share with you all that happened. It’s been another good week. More miracles every day. And when I think they’ve stopped, more come! God is good.

07.14.2014 - If You're Happy and You Know It ...

So I think I’m going to really have to recommend that you switch to Sunday night e-mail writing because this is the second week in a row that your e-mail hasn’t gotten to me in time…just a thought. :) But it sounds like you have been having a lot of wonderful trips, enjoying the beauty of nature. We’ve been having thunder/lightning storms throughout the week, so I’ve been enjoying that! I could probably just sit and watch the lightning for hours…is that weird? If it is I don’t care because it looks so cool! You mentioned it was too ‘snowy’ to go hiking…what’s snow??  

07.07.2014 - And I'm Proud to be an American

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!!!! Did you have a good celebration? How were Kathryn’s fireworks? Was it cold or good weather? What other great things happened this week? What miracles did you see? What miracle have you already seen today?

06.30.2014 - June in the Rear View

This week has been good. Thanks for asking. :) Waffles sound good…there aren’t many mornings I have time to make waffles…there aren’t any actually! Were the cherries yummy?? I got a little bag of cherries from a little girl this week. So sweet. 

06.23.2014 - Imperfect People Can Have Perfect Moments

Happy First Week of Summer to you too!! It feels like summer started a while ago and it was just a tad bit hotter than 77 here, but it was good to have it be officially summer. 

06.19.2014 - Summer. Round 2.

Sounds like you are in for a very fun trip! You’re right…I am a little jealous of the homemade ice cream, but that’s okay. :) Barett sounds soooo cute! I can’t wait to get to hear him talk. I still wish he hadn’t been so shy on Mother’s Day but that’s ok. This way the first time I hear it will be in person…and that’s better, right?? He also sounds pretty smart/tricky.  I have the best nieces and nephews around. :) I do have Liz’s address and sent her a letter last week. She e-mailed me today saying that she got it. I told her pretty much exactly what you just told me to say, that I was thinking about her, that she is in my prayers, and that I love her. Great minds think alike I suppose. And no, I can’t believe that Ryder is three!!! And Barett isn’t far behind. So crazy.

06.09.2014 - Birthday's All Around

Sounds like Dad and Annika’s birthday celebration was very nice…and very yummy. You made the dark bread from Outback? I love that stuff! I don’t think I was there when Liberty Wagley was…but that’s awesome that she was able to be baptized. Branson trip?? I don’t think you have told me about that. When is that happening?  Which movie did you go to? We were talking to two guys on the street yesterday and they told us the movies they really saw and I had NO idea what any of them are. I guess that’s just what happens. J Oh well! I’ll have plenty of time to catch up afterwards.  Yay for the strawberry jam!! Can’t wait. :) Can he save me some raspberry jam too?

06.02.2014 - Miraculous

Jadyn cracks me up haha but I guess I remember doing that too when I was her age. I loved being able to get sprayed by the hose when it was “hot.” It’s so funny though how we really do adjust to the temperature of the place that we live because while 73 used to be a warm day for me, I am now pretty chilled when it gets down to 73! Spooner Farms?!?! Anyway you could send me some homemade raspberry and strawberry jam this summer? J That sounds delicious. And thanks to you, I know see that there are a lot of gardening metaphors. I’ll have to look more into that later! Sound like the temple was great. I got to go this week too and it was beautiful! I’ll talk more about that later though.

05.26.2014 - Memorial Day Off

I would love to meet in the middle temperature wise. It just keeps getting hotter and hotter here! But I love it :) Summer is upon us. Yay! That is quite the last name that the new family has. How do you even say that?? That's a good song. We sing it quite frequently in the ward. 

05.19.2014 - Another Year Closer to Looking Like Mom

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM!!! It sounds like you had a great time celebrating. We sang to you :) and by we, I mean the four of us that live in the Barn. So I hope you felt the love.:) That’s awesome, and really bad at the same time, that there is now a DSW so close! There is one about 10 minutes from where I live here, in the San Tan Mall, but I haven’t been there. I figure it is better that way. Safer.

Sadly Lacking

What is wrong with me? Loaded question (I know) but I just can't seem to update Michelle's letters to the blog in a timely manner. So ... since she's coming home this week I thought that I should probably get her letters, from May to the present day, up and viewable.

05.05.2014 - 365 Days (well, almost) and Counting

Sounds like you’ve had a busy and fun week. :) Those are always good. Poor little Ryder :/ that sounds like it hurt! Is his hand doing better? Good ol’ rainy Washington! Definitely not rainy here. It’s getting hotter and drier every day. It feels like summer now. The past couple weeks have been warm, but there is a change in the air and you can tell that summer is fast approaching. Your trip to the middle-of-nowhere waterfalls sounds beautiful. And I agree with Dad, you’ll have to take me there when I get home.  :) I laughed when you talked about the chocolate chips, but I am so proud of you. I decided last night that I am going to go on a health-ier eating kick too. She made tres leches with chile powder? I’ve never had it like that, but I love tres leches. :) As for school, I don’t register for classes until October so we are good for now! Mikayla’s sister’s name is Samantha. I liked your idea of a trip to New York to get fabric there. :) Mother’s Day…I do get to call! Yay! I’m excited for it too. We are going to a member’s house to Skype from and I will Skype you at 4:15 p.m. Dad says he is sending a package so I told him some things that would be nice. When it comes to words of wisdom, I always need more. :) As soon as we get the conference edition of the ensign I will read the rest of President Eyring’s talk. Thank you for the beautiful textile metaphor that you gave me.  :) Remember how I used the two different types of thread for a scholarship essay too? Good metaphors can come from fabric! Who knew??

04.28.2014 - Meetings

My week has been good! Filled with lots of meetings, good meetings, but long meetings. I am feeling more at peace. I’ll talk more about that later. Sorry that I’ve been vague about the struggles I’ve been having. I guess I just want to be strong and not complain and go on and on about the bad things. Does that make sense? There will be plenty of time to explain it all to you when I get home. :) Just know that what you did say was perfect. Made me cry actually. So if that’s what you were going for, mission accomplished! But really, it was great. Thank you. We do always have to focus on the positive, like you said, and I think that’s why I didn’t include too many details. But you must know pretty well because you touched on some of the issues that it’s rooted in. I’ll keep looking for the small things on my road to becoming perfected. It’s a very long road and while we do have to keep that eternal perspective, we have to enjoy the journey and be happy along the way. You said to remember who I am…that’s something that President Nattress brings up a lot. He quotes Elder Packer I think saying, “You’ll never see fear in the eyes of the Brethren because they know who they are and they know who He is.” So that’s what I try and remember and know and hold on to as well. It definitely helps. You mentioned that “knowing I am where I need to be" and that’s sometimes the hardest part, and something that I had been struggling with. That’s where the patience comes in I guess! Also, thank you for sharing Barett’s story he made up. So adorable! I can’t wait for all the stories he has yet to make up. Good times to come for sure.  :)

04.21.2014 - Because of Him

My week has been good. Thank you for the adorable Easter pictures! I loved them. J I’m glad to hear that wedding plans and worries are all in the rearview mirror now and that life is a little more relaxed, or at least not quite as stressful. But whoa!!! Don’t go bringing up my future wedding. Not ready for that! That’s many years in the future. 

04.17.2014 - I Turned 20!!!!!!!!!!!

The week leading up sounds like it was a great one! The wedding sounds like it was just beautiful and I couldn’t be happier for the two of them. So exciting. I can’t wait to see all the pictures!!!  

04.07.2014 - LDS Conference

My week has gone well and I am very excited for my birthday month. :) I didn’t hear you singing, but thank you anyway! The party sounds like it was a lot of fun! I can’t wait to see pictures. I’m sad that grandpa’s letter didn’t get there in time! I did send it to WA because I didn’t have his address in UT. Can you forward it on to him please? The shower also sounds like it was lovely. I can’t believe the wedding is so soon! That is so exciting. It’s a little hard to think of all of it going on and not being there, but it is what it is and I am so happy for them! I’m sure it will be a beautiful day and I will be there in spirit. :)

03.31.2014 - Se Fue El Bigote!

Oh Heavenly Father is so good to me. Even when things are a little tough he just sends me an extra dose of love from all around. Thank you so much for your e-mail! You made me cry there at the end, but what you said meant so much to me. You are the greatest!

03.24.2014 - Marching Along

Happy Monday to you as well! I also have a hard time believing that it has already rolled around again. Time really does fly! Only two more weeks until my birthday! Although, if I was to adopt Chris’s birthday celebrating method (which isn’t really a bad idea) my birthday month would start in just one week! Yay. :) Grandpa’s birthday (and mine too I suppose, but mostly his :) sounds like it will be quite the party. Take lots of pictures! And I appreciate the pictures you are going to take of the wedding too! I still haven’t gotten an invitation. Did you send me one? Sounds like Washington is getting pretty nice. Sun, blue skies and 60 degrees, huh? That’s pretty similar to here too. Sun, blue skies, and…oh wait, 80 degrees. :) As for hiking though, I sent a box home that has my camlebak in it so you can use that! You’ll have to empty out all my letters though. Don’t get rid of anything that is in there please! I’m glad you mapped out how far I biked, I wanted to know. No shortcuts were taken. :) It was fun! I like biking!

03.17.2014 - Otro Traslado Se Fue!!!

My week has been great! Hmm…I wonder how many of my e-mails start out saying that same thing! I need to get more creative. :) But it’s true! My week has been just wonderful. Last Monday we had an activity with all of the sisters at the Nattress house and it was so fun! I just love them. :) One of the ladies who normally feeds us food shared a really amazing story that she had from her mission. She had a good mission experience, but she had never really felt like her service made that much of a difference. Now 20 years later she received and e-mail that changed her perspective. She served in Hong Kong and talked to loads of people every day and didn’t remember most of them after she talked with them. But she got an e-mail from someone that she had talked to on the street. He told her that he had been searching for her for years. He remembered that day that he had talked to her and he told her that it was what started his journey to being baptized. He was baptized in London and his wife was baptized in Hong Kong on the same day and she also remembered this sister and said that she was the reason that she was baptized. How awesome is that?! And now they are married and sealed in the temple and I think he’s a bishop right now. So cool. You just never know the influence and the impact that  you have on those around you…never know the seeds you plant.

03.10.2014 - Happy Birthday to Liz and Jadyn!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LIZ AND JADYN!!!! Did you get my birthday cards? I sure hope so. :) I’m glad to hear that you had such a great time at Disneyland/California Adventure/Hollywood/Laguna Beach. What a trip that was! I sure liked it when we did it! Although, the water wasn’t that warm when we went! But I swam in it anyway. :) I can empathize with you having a hard time getting out of bed to exercise this morning. We wake up at 5:40 to go play soccer at the church for an hour and sometimes it feels entirely too early. But it’s fun so we keep on doing it! I can’t believe that Grandpa will be 90 and I will be 20!!! That’s just insane. It’s about time. :) One more month and I’m no longer a teenager! I already don’t feel like one though…age is just a number, right?? As for a picture…is it supposed to be just me? Or he and I together? The picture of me with him and Althea the day I reported to the MTC is a good one and that would be fine. 

03.03.2014 - Weddings, Weddings ... So Many Weddings

I hope you are having a wonderful time in Disneyland! Try not to get heatstroke. :) Maybe if Jadyn says that she is just too hot, you can buy her a pair of shorts? ;) That probably would have helped me last time…but oh well! I guess it made it more memorable for us. I can’t believe how close the wedding is, but I’m glad to hear that preparations for it are going well. Promise me to take LOTS and LOTS of pictures! That way it’ll be like I was there. OR, maybe a better plan, last minute location change to the Gilbert temple?? It’s dedicated and they already have 100 weddings booked for March and 100 more for the following months. I’m sure they could squeeze Ben and Kate in. J Food for thought. 

02.24.2014 - Crossfit is Huge Here

My week has been so good! Send that video my way! I’d love to see it :) I’m glad to hear that things are going well with getting ready for the wedding! I can’t believe how soon it is! That means my birthday is coming right up too ;) Crossfit is huge here! Well, actually maybe it’s not that big, but I sure notice it a lot. I met a guy on Saturday who owns his own Crossfit gym. I’ll do it with you when I get back! About the temple details…the cultural celebration is this Saturday at 7:00 pm and it is going to be so cool! There are over 13,000 youth participating. I think they might be putting it on BYU channel?? You should check and see. Then the dedication is on Sunday and Thomas S. Monson will be doing it!!!! So cool!!!!

02.17.2014 - Fourth Time's A Charm

This has been a great week! The Gilbert Temple Open House has come to an end. Fastest month of my knife! It's definitely a very bittersweet ending. I was supposed to have the closing shift, but we had to switch so I was there Saturday morning. It worked out perfectly because I met the mom of one of my good friends at BYU and I met Ben's roommate! So cool! I loved making connections at the temple. So if your friend from Texas was there on Saturday morning I might have seen her! I didn't meet her though. There were so many people there on Saturday. The lines were crazy! I don't know the exact count on how many people went through, but I know it was over 1/2 a million. You should google it and let me know what you find out :) I did get the Valentine package. Thank you so much! I loved it :) We are going to make the cupcakes today! Can't wait! In church last week we sang Joseph Smiths first prayer to the tune of Come Thou Fount. We've sang it before, but obispo liked it so we sang it again!

02.10.2014 - Winter Wonderland

Things have been great this week! Lots of changes, but I think they’ve all been good ones. Sunny Arizona has been exactly that. It’s supposed to get up in the 80s this week! Can you believe that?! Beginning of February and 80. Pretty beautiful. :) But I mean…your winter storm sounds pretty nice too!

It's All My Fault

You might have guessed from the title that this is a catching up post. Since Michelle writes and sends pics every week and there hasn't been an update since the beginning for February, you are in for multiple posts today.

Sorry for the delay! Life decided to get really busy - Jennifer

The Super Bowl Was Super (02.03.2014)

Dear Mom,

                This week has been a great one! I’m happy to hear that the Seahawks won. Go team!!! The family we ate with had a bunch of the families in our ward over and it was a ton of fun! They were cheering for the Broncos but I told them I was for the Seahawks. Then they told me the score and I was pretty sure we were going to win. That wasn’t even half-time though so it’s good to hear that they pulled it out. Other than the Game Day excitement it was a pretty great dinner. It was delicious and it was after a day of fasting so I pretty much stuffed my face. Whoops!! Then we had Tres Leches and homemade cheesecake for dessert. Heaven :) I love the members in our ward. They are soooo hilarious and great to be around.

Monday, Monday (01.27.2014)

What a week this has been. It's been so crazy that I forgot to plan out what I was going to write to you and I forgot to bring my journal to have something to base it off of...sooo, I have my planner and I will try my best with that :) I wrote you on Tuesday last week so I'll start from that evening. We were planning on meeting up with our investigators Vanessa and Francisco to have dinner and then go to the temple. But when we showed up at their house, no one was there and they wouldn't answer their phone. We called their fellowship in their old Mesa ward who was going to come with us, but they hadn't heard from them either. And we still haven't. They disappeared. We think literally. Can't get a hold of them no matter what we try. So maybe some prayers for their safety would be good. They recently quit a major drug addiction so we are a little worried about them. It's just crazy because they came to church last Sunday and they seemed fine!

Bike Riding without Flat Tires (01.13.2013)

So about those engagement photos that are posted on Facebook...yeah…not really  “legal” for me to look at them. Any way you can send them to me?? I really want to see them! My big brother is getting married in less than 90 days?! That’s just weird. Good, but weird.  

Frosty ... and Not the Wendy's Kind (01.06.2014)

That is way crazy to think that you were in the Mesa temple district when you first got married. How far is Dallas from Mesa?? It’s definitely not like that anymore! As for seeing the Christmas lights…I have an idea for that! I’ll tell it to you when the time gets closer.

Ring Out the Old (12.30.2013)

It was so, so great to talk to you too! Probably the fastest 45 minutes of my life.  For Mother’s Day we will have to try Skype and see if that works any better because I would love to be able to see you the whole time. Christmas was just a great day. It was fun to watch the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. I knew there was symbolism in that movie, but I never noticed it as much as when I watched it this time around. The members who let us watch it in their Home Theatre were really nice…and so was their theatre! There are a lot of people here who are very wealthy. I wonder what they all do for a living?? 

FELIZ NAVIDAD (12.23.2013)

Surprise!!! We moved again. One of the APs called Tuesday night to tell us that we would for sure be staying in the Wiliamsfield house for this transfer. But that changed at transfer meeting. The same AP told us this time that we would be moving out of the Williamsfield house. So that’s what we did. We didn’t have time that day to move out so we packed and moved out Thursday night. The new address is 40194 N. Gantzel Rd Queen Creek AZ 85140. It’s a cute little house and I will send some pictures J I got the first two packages that you sent to the Williamsfield house and then the shoes and other thing that you sent to Cloud. I have permission from the APs to go to the Williamsfield house to pick up any other packages that come so if you sent anymore, don’t worry! I’ll get them. 

Preparation is Key (12.16.2013)

I’m glad that you decided to repent and send me such a long, detailed e-mail haha. They are always great to get J Although, I still haven’t gotten any pictures of the Christmas tree! When did the Bertels decided on moving to Portland? And, what?? Dulce de Leche Pecan Pie Cheesecake?? That does sound delicious! I know what I want my first dessert to be when I get back J My week has been good. Lots of ups and downs and struggles, but lots of learning

Bum of a sister

Y'all are about to get three posting ... because I was lazy in December. Blame me as Michelle wrote each week!